Orthodox Easter Jerusalem 2020

Via Dolorosa during Good Friday in Jerusalem in April 2019 and April 2020. Ammar Awad / Reuters                                                              Source: INSIDER

The lead up to Easter in Jerusalem is often chaotic as thousands of pilgrims and visitors throng the Old City. In 2020, in common with towns and cities around the world, Jerusalem is in lockdown.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is closed, the first time the doors have remained shut during Easter since the Black Death in 1349 according to doorkeeper and traditional key holder Adeeb Jawad Joudeh al-Husseini whose Muslim family have held the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for centuries.

He told Al Jazeera that he considered the Holy Sepulchre as his second home and it was "very hard to see it closed, especially during this blessed time."

Retracing the steps Jesus is believed to have taken ahead of his crucifixion, "a handful of friars were allowed to walk the traditional route through the rain-soaked Old City".

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli authorities will allow "usual Easter-related ceremonies" in Jerusalem to proceed but with "the restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic".

The Holy Fire ceremony will proceed. There will likely be "10-15 people in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher representing the different Eastern Orthodox churches" instead of the mass of witnesses seen in 2019 and for centuries before.

Some of the fire is put into special containers and taken to planes waiting at Ben-Gurion Airport to  distributed it to Eastern Christendom via churches in Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and other countries.

The exact mechanics of the ceremony have not been worked out yet a Foreign Ministry source told The jerusalem Post because "the Health Ministry may put more restrictions in place, but flights to bring the fire to Russia, Ukraine and Greece have already been arranged."

The report also states that the entire Holy Fire ceremony will be live-streamed online. No link is given but at the time of writing this entry RUPTLY is live-streaming.

Postscript

Holy Fire lit in near-empty Jerusalem

Happy Easter to our Orthodox brothers and sisters!

Church weddings decline along with regular church attendance

Church wedding                                                                                          Source: Church of England

While Anglican clergy, and Church in Wales bishops in particular, pursue their goal of same sex marriage in church, the latest figures indicate that fewer people are opting to make their relationship official with a traditional church wedding.

Figures published in Christian Today show that just 54,000 people chose a church wedding in 2017 - the lowest number on record - marking a steep drop from 184,000 in 1987. Religious ceremonies overall accounted for less than a quarter (23%) of marriages between opposite-sex couples in 2017.

"The statistics reflect a general drop in the number of people tying the knot, with a total of 242,842 marriages in England and Wales, down 2.8 per cent on the previous year and the lowest since records began in 1862. Of these marriages, some 6,932 were between same-sex couples.

"The figures continue to show a long-term decline in heterosexual couples choosing to wed, with numbers falling by 45% since 1972."

Ironically the bishops' desire to extend marriage in church to same sex couples occurs while traditional marriage ceremonies are in steep decline, as is church attendance in general.

Instead of following official teaching on Weddings, Anglican bishops in Wales along with the House of Bishops in the Church of England pander to secular trends in a mistaken attempt to appear more relevant to society.

From the Church in Wales Order for Holy Matrimony:
"Marriage is a gift of God through which husband and wife may grow together in the knowledge, love and service of God. It is given that, united with one another in heart, in mind and in body, they may increase in love and trust. God joins husband and wife in life-long union as the foundation of family life (in which children are born and nurtured and) in which each member of the family, in good times and in bad, may find strength, companionship and comfort, and grow to maturity in love. Marriage enriches society and strengthens community."

Mistaken ideas of equality, misrepresenting biblical meanings of love and substituting constructions of gender in place of traditional sexual identification have not enriched society or strengthened the community. More often they have led to confusion, bitterness and resentment.

The so called 'inclusive' churches have excluded far more Anglicans than thay have recruited as illustrated by the overall decline in attendance.

Those now complaining about being locked out of their churches under Covid-19 distancing rules are experiencing what they have previously forced on others who, along with the majority of Christians, including Anglicans, did no more than try to adhere to the traditional catholic and apostolic faith handed down through generations. 

A salutary lesson indeed. 

Easter 2020

The Resurrection                                                                                                     Caravaggio

A Happy and Blessed Easter

to all my readers

"I am with you till the end of time"

Bishop of London undermines Archbishop's authority

The Bishop of London has written to her clergy telling them they can ignore guidelines banning them from conducting services in their own churches thus contradicting advice from the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

By her actions the former Chief Nurse gives support to those people who think they know better than the government and the Church, ignoring Covid-19 guidelines designed to protect our NHS and save lives. 

Shame on her.

The selfless and the selfish

Source: BBC

Source: Express

Source: Independent

While NHS employees, numerous carers and many public servants are putting their lives on the line to care for the sick in the coronavirus pandemic, the selfish lie on their backs in the sun or chat idly, ignoring pleas to stay home.

These are the very people who are spreading the virus. They may even find themselves on their backs in hospital beds - if there are any left for them - having infected countless others.

Either they are deaf to the message or just couldn't care less - until it hits them.

Centenary

Original source: ITV

The Church in Wales celebrates 100 years since disestablishment.